Methods of and apparatus for weaving shaped fabrics and articles woven thereby



June 30, 964 E. KOPPELMAN ETAL 3,139,117

METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR WEAVING SHAPED FABRICS AND ARTICLES WOVEN THEREZBY Original Filed Nov. 20, 1956 v INVENTORS. Zfiddf/ Aayre, 777/471.

United States Patent M WTHGDS OF AND AFPARATUS FGR WEAVING SHAPED FAERICS AND ARTICLES WQVEN THEREBY Edward Koppelman, Huntington Park, and Arthur R. Campman, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Raymond Development Industries Inc., a corporation of Delaware Original application Nov. 26, 1956, Ser. No. 623,366, new Patent No. 2393,0399, dated Aug. 29, 1961. Divided and this application 6, 19 61, Ser. No. 93,544

6 Unitas. (Cl. 132tl) This invention relates to improved methods of weaving a fabric, and particularly the weaving of a wide fabric on a flat loom.

The invention has useful application in the weaving of a simple flat fabric, when the latter is too wide to be conveniently accommodated as a single layer on the loom. It also has useful application in the weaving of a curvilinear fabric as described in application Serial No. 623,366 filed November 20, 1956 and now US. Patent No. 2,998,030, from which the present specification has been divided.

The object of the invention is to provide a method by which the fabric can be woven on a loom of less transverse dimension than the Width of the fabric, by arranging the fabric in superposed la ers, or in folded form as it will be subsequently referred to.

This object is accomplished by arranging the banks of Warp elements in a stack as a series of superposed layers. There must be at least four layers; and there must be an even number of layers. One or more guide wires are then positioned between each separate pair of adjacent inner layers. Thus, when four layers are used (two outer and two inner), just one guide wire is required. If the stack consists of six layers (two outer and four inner), then two guide wires are needed, the first guide wire being between the first and second inner layers, and the second guide Wire being between the third and fourth inner layers. There are always two inner layers between each adjacent pair of guide wires (in the example just given, the second and third inner layers). Since, in the general case, there are N layers, there will always be N 2 inner layers (the 2 being the two outer layers), there will necessarily be half that number of guide wires, since each guide wire shares the pair of inner layers on each side of it, and since the pairs are separate and exclusive of each other. Let the number of guide wires 2 be referred to as M.

These guide wires are positioned to extend along the loom between the layers, as just explained, in the warp direction of the loom and, of course, inwardly of the lateral edges of the layers so as to lie truly between the layers. With the arrangement set up in this way, the Warp elements are so shed and the fill elements are so passed through the sheds that each fill element (a) extends from a first side of the loom through a first outer layer to the second side of the loom,

(12) then extends part way through a first inner layer adjacent said first outer layer to pass around a said guide wire and return through the next inner layer adjacent said first inner layer to the second side of the loom,

(c) then repeats M 1 times the last steps of extending part way through an inner layer and around a guide wire to return to the second side of the loom through a further inner layer,

3,l39,l l7. Patented June 30, 1964 (d) then extends from the second side of the loom through the second outer layer to the first side of the loom, (e) then extends part way through the inner layer adjacent said second outer layer to pass around a said guide wire and return through the next inner layer adjacent said last-mentioned inner layer to the first side of the loorn,

(f)and then repeats M -1 times the last steps of extending part way through an inner layer and around a guide wire to return to the first side of the loom through a further inner layer.

This procedure is then repeated as weaving proceeds with each fill element being beaten up in the usual way. Actually one continuous fill element may be used (in the manner described in the parent application above referred to) when a curvilinear fabric is being made with a crosssection of circular or like closed-figure shape. in this case, the above sequence (a) to (f) is simply repeated, so that step (a) follows directly on step (f), using the same fill element.

When making flat fabric the same procedure can be adopted, with subsequent severing of the fabric along one edge, or separate fill elements can be used during successive sequences (a) to (3). Obviously, this is the type of sequence that can be begun and ended at any place in the cycle, and step (a) has only been designated as the first step for reasons of convenience and ease of understanding.

Apart from permitting wide fabric to be made on a not so wide loom, the present invention has the advantage that it facilitates the tapering of the fabric, especially sharp tapering without loss of fabric strength.

In weaving tapered portions of shaped fabrics accord ing to the methods described in said parent application, warp ends are dropped from the weave only along a drop line in order to preserve uniformity of fabric density. In certain cases, however, where the surface is sharply tapered, or falls away substantially perpendicularly to the direction of weaving, a relatively large number of ends must be dropped either simultaneously or within a very few picks. The effect of dropping a large number of warp ends at one pick in the fabric along a single drop line is generally undesirable since yarn tension effects and longitudinal stretching of the fabric tends to withdraw the dropped ends slightly into the fabric, creating small gaps which may Weaken the fabric.

In order to minimize this effect, the fabric may be woven in folded form as illustrated in F165. 1 and 2 herein, which are respectively diagrammatic views of two embodiments of the present invention, each representing a cross-section of the folded fabric, with the wefts (or fill elements) indicated at 420 and the warps at 442.

The warp ends may be dropped along four or more longitudinally extending lines 42% spaced around the periphery of the fabric. Relatively stiff selvage, or guide wires 522. are disposed along the center line of the warp to keep the inner, concealed edges of the folds straight and properly aligned. The guide wires 4-22 are secured to the loom at their ends adjacent to the creel or warp beam, their free ends extending through the reed toward the take-up roll. If more than one wh'e is used, as shown for examplelin FIG. 2, they are preferably threaded through heddle eyes and controlled by the Jacquard mechanism.

In weaving folded fabrics, the sequence of the shedding and shuttle operations 'is determined according to the number of folds to be woven, and whether the fabric is to be woven in open or tubular form. For example, to Weave the tubular fabric illustrated in FIG. 1 the sequence may be as follows:

(1) The Jacquard head forms the shed for the upper or first outer layer 43% of the fabric;

(2) The shuttle traverses left to right;

(3) The Jacquard head forms the shed for the upper half 432 of the right-hand fold (or looked at another way the right-hand part of the first inner layer);

(4) The shuttle traverses right to left;

(5) The Jacquard head forms the shed for the lower half 434 of the right-hand fold (the right-hand part of the second inner layer);

' (6) The shuttle traverses left to right;

(7) The Jacquard head forms the shed for the lower or second outer layer 436 of the fabric;

(8) The shuttle traverses right to left;

(9) The shed for the lower half 438 of the left-hand fold is formed (the left-hand part of the second inner layer);

(10) The shuttle traverses left to right;

11) The shed for the upper half 440 of the left-hand fold is formed (the left-hand part of the first inner layer);

(12) The shuttle traverses right to left; and

(13) The reed sweeps forward to complete the pick.

On the second shuttle throw along each folded layer of the fabric the fill thread is caught and tensioned by the guide wire 422. This wire is provided to insure proper tensioning of the fill threads since the folded portions of the fabric are out of View of the weaver, and stretching or distortion of the warp ends might go unnoticed if no wire were provided and the warp ends themselves relied upon to tension the filling.

When two guide wires 422 are used (FIG. 2), basically the same sequence is employed, except that there are now four inner layers and the steps of passing the fill thread through parts of a pair of adjacent inner layers and around a guide Wire are repeated on each side of the loom, once of each guide wire after the the first.

A considerable degree of shaping of fabrics may be accomplished simply by weaving in folds according to the invention and without any other added correction. Preferably, however, one of the shaping methods hereinabove described is used in conjunction with weaving in folds to achieve optimum correction. The degree of correction required, however, decreases in proportion to the square of the number of lines along which warp ends are dropped. For example, when weaving in the fiat without any folds, the warp ends are dropped along two drop lines spaced 180 apart around the circumference of the fabric (represented by the line 74 of FIG. 7 of the parent application now US. Patent No. 2,998,030). When weaving in a double fold as shown in FIG. 1, four drop lines 420 are established along which the warp ends may be dropped. The correction factors required to achieve full curvature correction for fabric woven in the form illustrated in FIG. 28 of the parent application now US. Patent No. 2,998,030 are only one quarter as large as the correction factors hereinabove described. Similarly, the correction factors to achieve full curvature correction for fabric woven with two double folds and having six drop lines 420 are only one ninth as great as the correction factors required in the case of unfolded fabrics.

The folded form method is of substantial advantage for weaving fabrics of relatively great width such as, for example, fabrics to be used for large balloons, which fabrics may be to large to be woven without folds upon available looms. The capacity of a loom with respect to its Width may be readily increased by a factor of two or more by weaving in folds. It will be appreciated that this benefit is not limited to the weaving of curvilinear fabrics, but is equally applicable in the weaving of flat fabrics.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of weaving a wide fabric in folded form on a fiat loom, comprising (i) arranging on said loom a stack of N superposed layers of warp elements, where N is an even number not less than four;

(ii) positioning M guide wires to extend along the loom in the warp direction, where each guide wire lying between a pair of adjacent inner layers of said stack and inwardly of the lateral edges of such inner layers, two such inner layers lying between each adjacent pair of said guide wires;

(iii) and so shedding the warp layers and so passing the fill elements through the sheds thus formed that each fill element (a) extends from a point on a first side of the loom through a first outer layer to the second side of the loom,

(b) then extends part way through a first inner layer adjacent said first outer layer to pass around a said guide wire and return through the next inner layer adjacent said first inner layer to the second side of the loom,

(c) then repeats M -1 times the last steps of extending part way through an inner layer and around a guide wire to return to the second side of the loom through a further inner layer,

(d) then extends from the second side of the loom through the second outer layer to the first side of the loom,

(e) then extends part way through the inner layer adjacent said second outer layer to pass around a said guide wire and return through the next inner layer adjacent said last-mentioned inner layer to the first side of the loom,

(f) and then repeats M 1 times the last steps of extending part way through an inner layer and around a guide wire to return to said point on the first side of the loom through a further inner layer.

2. A method of weaving a wide fabric in folded form on a flat loom, comprising (i) arranging on said loom a stack of four superposed layers or" warp elements;

(ii) positioning a guide wire to extend along the loom in the warp direction to lie between the two inner layers of said stack and inwardly of the lateral edges of such inner layers;

(iii) and so shedding the warp layers and so passing the fill elements through the sheds thus formed that each fill element (a) extends from a point on a first side of the loom through a first outer layer to the second side of the loom,

(b) then extends part way through a first inner layer adjacent said first outer layer to pass around the guide wire and return through the second inner layer to the second side of the loom,

(c) then extends from the second side of the loom through the second outer layer to the first side of the loom,

(d) and then extends part way through the second inner layer to pass around the guide wire and return through the first inner layer to said point on the first side of the loom.

3. A method of weaving a wide fabric in folded form on a fiat loom comprising (i) arranging on said 100111 a stack of six superposed layers of warp elements;

(ii) positioning two guide wires to extend along the loom in the warp direction to lie respectively between the first and second inner layers and between the third and fourth inner layers of said stack and each inwardly of the lateral edges of such stack;

(iii) and so shedding the warp layers and so passing the fill elements through the sheds thus formed that each fill element (a) extends from a point on a first side of the loom through a first outer layer to the second side of the loom,

(b) then extends part way through the first inner layer adjacent said first outer layer to pass around a first said guide wire and return through the second inner layer to the second side of the loom,

(c) then extends part way through the third inner layer to pass around the second said guide wire and return through the fourth inner layer to the second side of the loom,

(0.) then extends from the second side of the loom through the second outer layer to the first side of the loom,

(e) then extends part way through the fourth inner layer to pass around said second guide wire and return through the third inner layer to the first side of the loom,

(f) and then extends part way through the second inner layer to pass around said first guide wire and return through the first inner layer to said point on the first side of the loom.

4. A method according to claim 1 including the step of varying the total number of warp elements included in the weave as weaving proceeds, in order to taper the fabric produced, wherein said variation of the total number of warp elements is carried out by simultaneously varying the number of warp elements at each of the fold lines defined by the mutually adjacent edges of the first outer layer and first inner layer adjacent said first outer layer and the mutually adjacent edges of each successive pair of layers.

5. A method of weaving a wide fabric in folded form on a flat loom, comprising:

(i) arranging on said loom a stack of four superposed layers of warp elements;

(ii) positioning a guide wire to extend along said loom in the warp direction to lie between the two inner layers of said stack and inwardly of the lateral edges of such stack;

(iii) shedding a first outer layer and inserting a fill element therein extending from a point on a first side of the loorn to the second side of the loom, said fill element lying on a first side of said guide Wire;

(iv) then shedding only that portion of a first inner layer adjacent said first outer layer which extends from said guide wire to the second side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the second side of the loom towards the first side of the loom, said fill element lying on said first side of said guide wire;

(v) then shedding only that portion of the other inner layer which extends from said guide wire to the second side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend to the second side of the loom, said fill element now lying on a second side of said guide wire opposite said first side of the guide wire so as to extend tightly around said guide wire;

(vi) then shedding the other outer layer and inserting said fill element therein extending from the second side or" the loom to the first side of the loom, said fill element lying on said second side of said guide wire;

(vii) then shedding only that portion of the second inner layer which extends from said guide wire to the first side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the first side of the loom towards the second side of the loom, said fill element lying on said second side of said guide wire;

(viii) then shedding only that portion of the first inner layer which extends from said guide wire to the first side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend to said point on the first side of the loom, said fill element now lying on said first side of said guide wire so as to extend tightly around said guide wire;

(ix) beating up to complete the pick, and continuing such shedding sequence as weaving proceeds.

6. A method of weaving a wide fabric on a flat loom,

comprising (i) arranging on said loom a stack of six superposed layers of warp elements, said stack having first and second outer layers and first, second, third and fourth inner layers extending from said first outer layer to said second outer layer;

(ii) positioning a first guide wire to extend along the loom in the warp direction to lie between the first and second inner layers and inwardly of the lateral edges of the stack;

(iii) positioning a second guide wire to extend along the loom in the warp direction to lie between the third and fourth inner layers and inwardly of the lateral edges of the stack;

(iv) shedding the first outer layer and inserting a fill element therein extending from a point on a first side of the loom to the second side of the loom, said fill element lying on a first side of said guide wire;

(v) then shedding only that portion of the first inner layer which extends from said first guide wire to the second side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the second side of the loom towards the first side of the loom, said fill element lying on said first side of said guide wire;

(vi) then shedding only that portion of the second layer which extends from said guide wire to the sec ond side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend to the second side of the loom, said fill element now lying on a second side of said first guide wire opposite said first side of said first guide wire to extend tightly around said first guide wire, and on a first side of said second guide wire;

(vii) then shedding only that portion of the third inner layer which extends from said second guide wire to the second side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the second side of the loom towards the first side of the loom, said fill element lying on the second side of said first guide Wire and said first side of said second guide wire;

(viii) then shedding only that portion of the fourth inner layer which extends from said second guide wire to the second side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend to said point on the second side of the loom, said fill element now lying on the second side of said second guide wire to extend tightly around said second guide wire;

(ix) then shedding the second outer layer and insert ing said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the second side of the loom to the first side of the loom, said fill element lying on the second side of said second guide wire;

(x) then shedding only that portion of the fourth inner layer which extends from said second guide wire to the first side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the first side of the loom towards the second side of the loom, said fill element lying on the second side of said second guide wire;

(xi) then shedding only that portion of the third inner layer which extends from said second guide wire to the first side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend to the first side of the loom, said fill element now lying on the second side of said first guide wire but on the first side of said second guide wire to extend tightly around said second guide wire;

7 8 (xii) then shedding only that portion of the second in- (xiv) then beating up to complete the pick and conner layer which extends from said first guide wire to tinuing such shedding sequence as weaving proceeds. the first side of the loom and inserting said fill element in the shed so formed to extend from the first References Cited in the file of this Patent side of the loom towards the second side of the loom, 5 UNITED STATES P ATENTS said fill element lying on the first side of said second guide Wire and the second side of said first guide wire; 2 i g R22 (xiii) then shedding only that portion of the first inner 3O16068 J y 1962 layer which extends from said first guide wire to the 6 1X first side of the loom and inserting said fill element 10 FOREIGN PATENTS in the shed so formed to extend to said point on the 307,809 Germany Sept 9, 1918 first Side of the 100m, said fill element now lying on 455 4 3 Great Britain Oct 1 93 the first side of said first guide wire to extend tightly 405,5 33 Italy Aug. 18, 1943 around said first guide wire; 42,449 Netherlands Jan. 15, 1938 

1. A METHOD OF WEAVING A WIDE FABRIC IN FOLDED FORM ON A FLAT LOOM, COMPRISING (I) ARRANGING ON SAID LOOM A STACK OF N SUPERPOSED LAYERS OF WARP ELEMENTS, WHERE N IS AN EVEN NUMBER NOT LESS THAN FOUR; (II) POSITIONING M GUIDE WIRES TO EXTEND ALONG THE LOOM IN THE WARP DIRECTION, WHERE 